Supermarket shelves are at risk of running low when the Andrews Labor Government reintroduces delivery curfews on heavy vehicles later this month.
Minister for the Coordination of Transport – COVID-19 Jacinta Allan quietly confirmed in PAEC that the curfews originally relaxed in March to allow trucks to deliver stock outside of normal delivery times, will be reintroduced on September 21.
With distribution centres operating below normal capacity due to COVID restrictions and outbreaks, the only way to guarantee that essential products are available to all Victorians, every day, is to allow deliveries to be made outside regular hours.
Despite months of unanswered pleas from the Liberal Nationals, the Andrews Labor Government has been silent on the issue. Jacinta Allan has been more interested in trying to prevent Parliament from sitting this week, and as for the supposed Minister for Ports and Freight, Melissa Horne, we have grown accustomed to her silence on freight issues.
Victoria is not in the situation we are in due to bad luck but due to bad decisions by the Andrews Labor Government around hotel quarantine and bungled contact tracing.
The least Daniel Andrews can do is allow the supply of essential goods to continue unabated during this pandemic, so consumers can get what they need, when they need.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight, Roma Britnell:
“The Andrews Labor Government is planning to put the brakes on the very deliveries of the products and materials that Victorians need by reinstating the heavy vehicle curfews on September 21.”
“Why should somebody who follows the rules by only making their one permitted trip to a single supermarket not be able to purchase what they need because of a Government that refuses to take action?
“Demand for consumer goods to be available at all hours of the day isn’t going to stop anytime soon. The Labor Minister for Ports and Freight needs to do some work for once and address these concerns as a matter of urgency.”
